HISTORIALE DI CASSINO

The armistice opened a dramatic chapter in Italian history. The army disbanded and the nation was set adrift’. A period radio broadcasts the original voice of General Badoglio announcing the armistice to the Italians. The opposite panel shows the signatures of the armistice. The artistic representation of Italy ‘exploding’ with hanging fragments represents the dismay and loss of identity of the Italian population. The article by the war journalist Roberto Suster appears on the screen, accompanied by the sound of typewriter keys. The article is framed by a mixture of faces and images. The text reads: ‘Italy has ceased to exist … Every day one has the feeling of falling into a bottomless abyss from which no human force can pull us out. And the Italians flee in despair, they flee to the mountains, they hide in cellars, they cover their eyes with their hands, they no longer want to know anything, they no longer want to see anything: it is a nation that, at the height of its weariness, throws itself on the ground and waits, united, for its destiny, even the most terrible destiny, to be fulfilled.

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